Marketing Strategies

6

A marketing strategy is essentially how a business or brand communicates and ‘sells’ a product to a consumer. Often there will be an analysis of a business before the implementation of a marketing strategy, this helps indicate whether the strategy is successful or not.

if we say that my brand or company is my personal branding or public appearance, this means that the product I am selling to consumers is also me, as an influencer. My concept is about developing a content creator on two social media platforms, TikTok and Instagram. With social media already being a legitimate tool used by companies to grow their businesses and sell their products, my presence on these platforms is significant as the more consistent I am the more likely people will see my posts and ‘buy’ my products. Or in other words the more likely I am to gain a following. The marketing mix is a tool used by businesses and brands to establish what they are going to produce, how much they will charge, how it will be delivered to consumers and how to tell consumers about it. These considerations are also known as the 7 Ps of promotion: Product, price, place, people, process and physical evidence. So, if we put this into practice for the sake of my brand: Product – I am selling the concept of escapism, freedom of self-expression and experimentation. Price – there is no subscription fee for these platforms Place – Instagram and TikTok People – This business plan has one operator. Me. However, collaboration could lead to exposure to other creators’ consumer bases. Process – imagery and video content relating to fashion, makeup, styling and educational content in the form of tutorials.

Physical Evidence – audience reach and engagement; for example, the analytics from TikTok LIVE that showcase my following increasing by 20 people after every stream.

In terms of market levels, my brand sits in the diffusion brands sector of the pyramid. This is due to the fact that as a brand I champion sustainability however, I am aware that not everyone can afford luxury or designer brands and given that one way of self-expression is

through clothing and styling, I wouldn’t want to segregate anyone from doing so. That being said I want to educate my audience on recycling, reusing and sustainability in a non-designer setting. For example, the inclusion of the reclaimed top in shoot 3 of my campaign.

Management: in terms of maintaining consistency in regard to my social media presence, this is an easy outcome for me to achieve given that I am essentially self-employed and the sole employee. being my own manager means I will be able to easily implement this as long as I can ensure that I can motivate myself. I am self-motivated and feel confident that I am able to achieve this as it is one of my passions and having turned it into a business model is the ultimate goal for myself and many other people, especially in the creative industry.

Branding: my personal branding has allowed me to showcase my core values at the heart of my business plan. Staying true to this and not selling out in the face of brand deals or paid ads will be tricky but necessary as it will strengthen the bond between my brand and my consumer. This will allow me to create a cohesive, recognisable and identifiable brand with solid core values and morals.

Building traffic: through the TikTok LIVE feature and posting content I can channel my following from each social media outlet to the alternate one, thus sharing my consumer base with myself in a way.

SWOT analysis is the identification of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a brand. Identifying these factors can be helpful when it comes to creating marketing and promotional strategies and plans for the longevity of a brand. SWOT Analysis of my brand: Strengths: I have identified a clear gap in the market and consumer identified, maintained consistent posting and interaction with the audience and planned aesthetic for my Instagram grid to ensure that my branding is cohesive and aesthetic goals are met. Weaknesses: My brand is still very small and needs time to grow and be cultivated. There is currently no communication with brands about brand deals as my following is still small. Opportunities: continuing with the TikTok LIVE streams will hopefully enable me to keep growing organically and maintain engagement with my audience, therefore resulting in potential brand deals and sponsored posts in the future.

Threats: lack of a fast-paced growth could be seen as demotivating and result in less investment of time and resources in this project. However, persistence and consistency are key, and growth takes time.

Semiotics:

Semiotics are an investigation into how meaning is created and communicated through signs and symbols; for example, traffic lights. Ferdinand De Saussure defined semiotics as the ‘science of signs’, his theory broke semiotics into the signifier (physical evidence: word, sound or image) and the signified (mental concept or meaning indicated by the signifier). Semiotics are subjective an individual's experience. In relation to my brand, semiotics is one of the most important aspects of marketing to consider as the way a consumer views my online presence is the strongest deciding factor for them following and engaging or not. As a consumer myself, if I see a post, I like I will often go to a content creator’s profile; if their feed or grid isn’t up to the standard of what I am looking for then I won’t follow the account. Although this may sound superficial, it is the way we, as consumers shop and view the world. Even if one post is good, that does not warrant a follow or further engagement. This is why the development of my Instagram grid and social media platforms has been such an important and integral part of my campaign, as the semiotics are so important for any business, especially a social media influencer who is often judged instantly based on appearances.